I have never thought that being a tutor will allow one to learn so much about life.

A tutor, or some may give a nice term,"Education Consultant", was a part-time career that I never did consider in my whole life. To me, I always feel that I am short-tempered, impatient and certainly, less accommodating to anyone but myself.

That was the perspective that I held 2 years ago. And I would say, my perception of tutoring has changed. Drastically, i may add.

I dont deny the motivation behind my tuition assignments was due to a monetary basis. Many people have the perspective that being a tutor is just easy money. You can just sit down there with the kid idly for a few hours and earn a handsome sum of money.

Well. I was proven so wrong.

Contrary to popular belief, I realised i actually studied more when I am tutoring my students. I am forced to brush up on my theories, look for examination questions online and source for relevant materials for my students. I can confidently say that the time that I spend studying during these 2 years is many times more that the time that I have spend in my 12 years of education.

But of course. That's just the superficial gain that I have. There are many fringe benefits that I have gathered, are most of them, grooms me and certainly opens up the narrow view that I have in life.

I have tutored at least 14 students over these 2 years and needless to say, I have come across people and families that come from different walks of life.

I still remember that one of my first few assignments was to teach a kid with asperger's syndrome. Imagine the rude shock that I had when i stepped into the house! The kid refused to come out of his room and was throwing his temper at everyone in the house. I thought that I would never get a chance to teach the kid, and I just told the mom that I would make a move first.

The next day, the mom called me and was literaly begging at me to teach his son. She reflected to me that a lot of tutors refused to teach her child cause of what he had and it was difficult for her son to even make friends in school.

I have no idea what got into me, but yet, I decided to continue with the assignment. And miraculously, the kid opened up to me slowly and we were soon exchanging polite conversations outside the academia. Through these little conversations that I had with him, I realised that he is actually a kid with aspirations and dreams. But due to his social awkwardness, it was very difficult for him to express himself clearly, thus, causing much people to think that he was rude and insensitive.

Apart from him, I also encountered a mom who was experiencing a divorce when she hired me as a tutor. She was clearly having financial difficulties and to be frank, my charges arent exactly really modest. But yet, she insisted on me having tutoring her child and she never gave a late payment to me. When I declined to receive her payment, she just shoved the money to me and just told me:

" This child is the only thing that I have now. I will starve myself and provide him with the best education."

2 simple sentences. But it really warmed my heart. From her, I truly experience the selfless attitude and sacrifices that a parent can give to a child.

On a side note, well, thankfully, the kid managed to score distinctions for his english and chinese examinations after that. If not, my reputation as a tutor would most probably be tarnished by now. Haha.

Tutoring has truly been an enriching experience, which is why, I believe that even after i graduate from university, I will still be tutoring people as my part-time job.

At least for now, the motivation for tutoring isnt just the monetary rewards that I can get. I have gained much things that are invaluable and intangible. 

And I would definitely bring the things that I have learnt to continue my own walk of life.

Great Cover of Lady Gaga's Paparazzi

A video of me sleeping......

Alone. In class.

Oh well. I miss those good old jaycee times.

Yes, I do know that I am rather slow, and like blogging about this when it has already come out for like nearly 1 year plus. But still, I contemplated for 1 whole year before deciding to buy it.

Actually, I was trying to make a decision between Nano and Touch, but since I can only pay by instalments if the purchase is $500 and above, I am only left with a Hobson's Choice.

And yes, I am actually paying it by instalments, so please do not think that I have struck the 4D or something.

But seriously, I think the device is like totally amazing. And it's really an entertainment centre by itself, and in fact, I just spend another $10 bucks downloading Cooking Mama.

I have this strong feeling this thing will cost me much than it seems.

And on a side note, I just got Nokia E71, and anyone who is my friend, will know that I have been raving non-stop about the functions of E71.

Which again, is pretty slow of me, since E71 has been already out for a year. And even Ms. Verena Teng was like, "Why are you buying it now? I have been using it before I go UK."

 Just in case you are wondering when, she went UK last August. 

p/s: I just pluck my last wisdom tooth this week. I wanted to post the pictures of it, but decided not to since it would probably gross everyone out.

For the whole of my army career, I can say that I have put in a lot more effort than most people, well, apart from the first 3 months of course. And in fact, subconsciously, I even used the word, "career", to describe my National Service, which is a serious indication of how much I value my whole national service experience.

So anyway, I received news from Daniel yesterday that for the upcoming APEC, I am supposed to do shift work from 3pm to 11pm and this, of course, is a news of great inconvenience. Why? 

Firstly, I am doing community service (tuition specifically) and given that it is the exam period now, the kids will miss a couple of consultation sessions if I am involved in APEC.  

Secondly, my relatives from Hong Kong have just arrived in Singapore and well, I havent been back to Hong Kong for 3 whole years and it's really once in a blue moon they would come and visit me. And with that kind of duty shift, I have no idea how am I going to spend time with them.

Thirdly, I am plucking my wisdom tooth tomorrow, so i.e. I will be doing APEC on days when I am having medical leave. And with regards to this issue, I have removed my wisdom tooth twice, and at both times, I was given 5 days of MC each, but I didnt consume any of it cause I felt responsible to go back to office and work.

So basically, when I told my friends that I am unhappy with the shift work, they just go like," Well, you should suck it up like the rest of the army boys." And they went on and started on a little speech about how I shouldnt' complain about my NS life, saying that it is already very good cause I am a clerk.

Seriously. What the hell? What's up with the stereotypes? Being a clerk doesnt necessarily pertain to a carefree and easy life. Just to make a clean breast out of myself, I work from 730 to 6 everyday, and upon reaching home at 10 after my tuitions, I have to clear e-mails and what-nots until 2 or 3 am. And there were a few occasions that I have to work for 10 days straight.

And you know how uni people have to write essays and thesis? Please. I do them on a regular basis and my datelines are way shorter than most uni assignments. Dont give me the crap that cause my work is not graded, thus I dont have to care. My work is of course graded as I do them for competitions and If I dont do it well, it will affect the whole team.

So in what way is this life easy?

In addition, I have never complained about my NS life, and in fact, the only reason why I am talking about this now is cause of the stereotype some of my friends gave me, without even understanding what the situation is. 

And I need to emphasize, I am not showing off or anything. I treat my whole NS experience as a learning experience and I do appreciate the opportunities that are given to me. But seriously, try to understand the situation I am in before commenting. 

Oh well, enough of grumbling. Life goes on.

Nah. This is not an entry about my love life nor Taylor Swift.

Watch the video below. It's amazing.

Speaking of Taylor Swift, I do pity her for what had happened to her during MTV VMA.

But well taylor, looking on the bright side, You are the talk of the town now! Great Sales for next album for sure.

Many people have labeled me as the Mister Nice Guy, while some, of course, have blatantly labeled me as a bitch. Personally, I would say that I dont think i deserve the category of bitch, but rather, I am just too straightforward at times.

I dont lose my temper easily, that, I'm sure of it. Hence, I believe that's why most people have perceived me as a nice person with a pleasant disposition. ( By the way, I'm just quoting from my friends. I do know what my flaws are ) However there are certain things that will ignite my anger easily, or should i say very easily. These are things such as:

1) Spreading rumours or gossiping about me

2)  Giving me Empty Promises

3) Lying 

4) Being rude to elderly

5) Show-Offs

Hence, whenever those incidents that I mentioned above happens, I will just lose my temper and start scolding the person straightaway. I guess I shouldnt be losing my cool, but well, I always believe that I should stand up in what I believe in, and hence, those are things and values that I hold a strong belief in.

But of course, things have changed over the years, and I start to see things in more ways than one. Thus, I have gradually adopted a nonchalant attitude towards certain matters, especially if the issue doesnt concern me at all. Yet, there are still occasions that I feel that I can just be a spectator for the incident, and would want to give my 2 cents' worth of thoughts.

I guess everything that I had typed is pretty vague, but well, it will do for now.

p/s: Contrary to popular belief, I do feel guilty very easily after I scolded someone. 

I havent been updating this blog for a long time, and I guess, I have lost the connection or the avenue to update some of you guys about my life. 

I am fine. I cant describe much more of how I am feeling now. 

Anyway, you can follow me on twitter now! Click here. I will be updating my tweets quite a bit as I have signed up for mobile data plan. So even in camp, you will see me updating my status busily. (For the wrong cause, of course)

Till then. I have a good mind to revive this blog and finish up all the uncompleted entries. But, I think I should fully utilise for more meaningful stuff.

It's definitely weird to say that 2 years after you had graduated. (That was my council's motto, by the way)

But I really like my council people. I never thought that I can make such good friends back in college, to the extent that the friendships that we have is carried on till now.

They are a group of people that I am always comfortable with, and it always brings me a smile when I looked back at the memories that we share. When I looked at the other batches of seniors and juniors, I am truly glad that I'm in the 3oth.

Thank you guys, everyone of you.